BRO officer dies while saving colleague

New Delhi, Aug 17 (PTI) An officer of the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) died while trying to save his colleague and equipment during relief operations after the cloudburst in on the Dharasu-Gangotri road in Uttarakhand. The incident occurred on August 14 when the Bailey bridge critical to the communication in the area was in the final stages of launching, a Defence Ministry release said. Two major permanent bridges at Sawari Garh and Gangori were washed away leaving a stretch of 28 Kms between them completely cut off. In order to restore the bridges, a 100 feet bailey bridge was planned at Sawari Garh, to be launched by Capt Ramesh and his team of GREF personnel. "On 14 August, when the bailey bridge was about to tip, the hill side on the home bank gave way causing a massive slide. Capt Ramesh pushed Driver B P Panda, who was working on the launching rollers, to safety and tried to jam the rollers so as to stop the bridge from sliding down the nallah. While he succeeded in jamming the rollers with a steel pin, he got stuck between the bridge and abutment and a transom fell on his back resulting in serious injury," the release said. It said the mortal remains of Captain Ramesh were sent to Nagpur where his last rites were performed with full military honours in the presence of his family.